Dexter: Swim Deep Review

By today’s standards, a show that goes more than four or five seasons is really something of an achievement. A show like DEXTER, now halfway through its next to last season is pulling out all of the stops to orchestrate an operatic-like climax. Still though, we are only a quarter of the way through Dexter’s last episodes. It has me wondering how it can sustain its momentum for another season and a half but I am putting my faith in lore of Dexter and have faith that it will have a deserved final ending. But don’t get me wrong, I am really enjoying this season after somewhat of a sub-par Season 5. Although it may seem that the plot has lost its urgency and jumps all over the place, the overall story is shaping up nicely. Yes the seemingly endless sub-plots can get tedious at times but I have decided to enjoy the ride. In this week’s episode we are all over Miami with everyone from Captain LaGuerta to Quinn having their own unique storyline that tie in to the big picture. While from a distance it may seem muddled and cluttered but I am starting to see a unique cohesiveness to the big picture where Dexter stands squarely in the middle, blade in hand ready to make his final kills.

The “Kiev Connection” as I have been referring to it as is continuing to take the poll at the forefront of the show. After the murder of Detective Mike Anderson by Ukranian gangster Victor Boscov that opened the season, Dex expedited him in his usual efficient manner but it has created a storm over Miami Metro. The only way to look at it is that Victor Boscov meant a whole heck of a lot to foreign boss Isaak Sirko (Ray Stevenson). Victor’s death was enough for Ivan to get him to Miami and on Dexter and companies radar. Still we do not know who exactly Victor was to Isaak. A son? A lover? His best friend? Only time will tell. Stevenson is chewing the scenery and steals most of the scenes he is in playing the part with a subdued & frightening elegance. He reminds me of an Armani suit wearing Anton Chigurh.

In an excellent setup where Dexter lures Ivan to a rival Columbian cartel bar hoping that the they will off him and save him the trouble. But Sirko handles the three rival drug runners with surprising efficiency leading Lieutenant Deb to have the line of the episode, “So we’re looking for the effin’ Terminator?” Immediately it is easy to see that like the Joker in DARK KNIGHT, Sirko meant to be caught. He is not a foot solider or an expendable thug. This guy is high up in the food chain and although now in jail, he is plotting and has Dexter and the rest of Miami Metro in his crosshairs. Isaak regales a chilling personal story of revenge to Dexter in a jailhouse visit about an old Soviet great uncle of his and the retribution he waited years to excise on his captor after the Soviet Union fell. Intriguing? Yes. But thinking that Dexter can take down a foreign crime syndicate one by one is a little bit of a stretch. If anything, Dexter’s kills are personal and calculated. He does not just kill for the sake of killing. He satiates his needs with due diligence, research and some good old fashioned police work. On the other hand with the Code of Harry running through his veins, self-preservation is Dex’s number one concern—always.

Deb is still adjusting to what she knows about big bro and although in the final moments of episode four she had seemed to come to terms with Dexter’s “side-gig”, the cop in her is screaming that this is all wrong. This is not her. I have always thought that Jennifer Carpenter’s portrayal of Deb is so convincing since the very first episode of the series because she is a cop first. Torn between her loyalty to the shield and what it means and her love for her brother makes for a very interesting dichotomy of ongoing character development and what may turn out to be a seismic shift. While laying low in a cheap motel to avoid Sirko, Deb & Dex have some creepy sexual tension in the air when going to bed. This is definitely a weird road to go down that is detracting from Deb still comprehending who her brother truly is. Quinn is back on the take and in my opinion will not last the season and this is certain to be his last gambit. LaGuerta is determined to prove that the late Sgt. Doakes was not The Bay Harbor Butcher and Angel is not buying into the Ukranian bartender killing himself voluntarily for murdering Detective Anderson. But everything lives and dies with Dexter’s decisions and only he is the engine that makes this show purr or sput-out.